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New Bowl for the Belt

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I know there was some talk about the Sun-Belt getting a new Bowl tie-in and at the time I couldn't remember where I had read some stuff on this, Marcus Nelson did write something about this back in December.

Marcus Nelson was cool enough to send me a copy of it and I thought I would share it with everyone here in case anyone might have miss it, with all the NO hoopla.



New Orleans Bowl Notebook: Sun Belt angles for more bowls
By Marcus Nelson
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, December 22, 2007


NEW ORLEANS – Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Wright Waters would like to have a second bowl tie-in for a Sun Belt team before 2010.

"I'd like to have it done no later than that," Waters said Friday before the start of the New Orleans Bowl.

"It's not as simple as calling somebody and rolling out the ball. It's a very expensive venture."

A second tie-in would make sure another team besides the Sun Belt champion would reach a bowl game every year.

Of course, that's only if the conference has enough bowl-eligible teams.

Since 2001, the champion of the Sun Belt Conference has earned an automatic berth to the New Orleans Bowl.

But the conference has sent multiple teams to bowl games just twice.

In 2004, Troy played in the Silicon Valley Bowl. Last season, Middle Tennessee played in the Motor City Bowl.

This season, Troy, which shared the Sun Belt title with Florida Atlantic, wasn't invited to participate in a bowl game despite finishing 8-4.

Waters also would like a bowl affiliation in the Southeast, close to Sun Belt schools.

"We'd like to keep it somewhere in our geography so our fans could travel," he said.

FAU fans scarce: Florida Atlantic sold almost 1,500 tickets for the New Orleans Bowl, according to Athletic Director Craig Angelos.

"We were selling them in the lobby of the hotel today," Angelos said.

While Angelos would have liked to have sold more tickets, he was pleased with the support of fans who made the trip to support the Owls in the first bowl game in school history.

The Owls had sold approximately 1,600 season tickets this season and came close to passing that mark for the New Orleans Bowl.

"To get this many people to come in just two weeks is incredible," Angelos said.

More than 100 of the tickets sold by FAU were donated to Desire Street Ministries, a New Orleans charity run by former University of Florida quarterback and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel.

The charity revitalizes impoverished neighborhoods in New Orleans.

Indoor Owls: With the victory over Memphis, FAU improved to 2-1 in domed stadiums.

The Owls defeated Northern Arizona 48-25 in the Division I-AA playoffs in 2003 at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The Owls also lost 46-7 to Minnesota in 2005 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Injury update: Junior running back Kyle Watkins, one of the Owls' top players on special teams, was injured in the first quarter and had to be carted off the field. Watkins suffered a sprained right knee.

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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

More than 100 of the tickets sold by FAU were donated to Desire Street Ministries, a New Orleans charity run by former University of Florida quarterback and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel.

Thats great! I'm really pleased to see that!!!




Next year I'm going!!!

FAU - THE REAL SLEEPING GIANT
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

Another bowl tie-in would be great. There are a number of bowls that make sense in terms of size and location. The first two that come to mind are the bowls played in Mobile and Shreveport.

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

Has anyone ever considered using Doak for a bowl game?

For the Sun Belt it seems like it would be a pretty good location (geographically for the sun belt teams), relatively warm, nice facility.  I'm sure FSU and Tallahassee wouldn't mind the extra exposure and cash revenue of more visitors either, especially with most of the students home (i.e. not in Tallahassee) for winter break.

Florida Atlantic University Owls
2007 Sun Belt Football Champions 2007 New Orleans Bowl Champions 2008 Motor City Bowl Champions 2011 Sun Belt Basketball Champions No Bowls without Owls
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

SeminOWL2006 said

Has anyone ever considered using Doak for a bowl game?

For the Sun Belt it seems like it would be a pretty good location (geographically for the sun belt teams), relatively warm, nice facility.  I'm sure FSU and Tallahassee wouldn't mind the extra exposure and cash revenue of more visitors either, especially with most of the students home (i.e. not in Tallahassee) for winter break.

That's actually not a bad idea… Doak is a beautiful facility.
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

SeminOWL2006 said

Has anyone ever considered using Doak for a bowl game?

For the Sun Belt it seems like it would be a pretty good location (geographically for the sun belt teams), relatively warm, nice facility.  I'm sure FSU and Tallahassee wouldn't mind the extra exposure and cash revenue of more visitors either, especially with most of the students home (i.e. not in Tallahassee) for winter break.

That is a good idea…and a reason to go back to Tally for some fun.

GO OWLS!
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

New Bowl for the Belt

SeminOWL2006 said

Has anyone ever considered using Doak for a bowl game?

For the Sun Belt it seems like it would be a pretty good location (geographically for the sun belt teams), relatively warm, nice facility.  I'm sure FSU and Tallahassee wouldn't mind the extra exposure and cash revenue of more visitors either, especially with most of the students home (i.e. not in Tallahassee) for winter break.

I don't know about this.  Generally speaking, bowls are in tourist areas and/or big cities, but whatever the case, the bottom line is that there is stuff to do in addition to the game, even for the minor bowls.  Off the top of my head, the only bowls that run contrary to this are Shreveport, which earned the tag "The Grandaddy of Bad Bowl Games," and Boise, which nobody can really figure out.  Seriously, there's not a lot to do in Tally.  It's a mid-size city surrounded by nothing.  The nearest major city is 2 1/2 hours away.  I think a bowl would be a flop.
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

The said

….and Boise, which nobody can really figure out.

I wondered about this myself a few years ago, and since then I have heard a lot more about Boise from either friends in college athletics who have gone there with teams or for meetings or articles I've come across.

Boise is actually a cool city.

It's got a lot of great restaurants, bars and the like. Plus, skiing is huge out there.  Winter Olympics in 2009 will be there.

Other than that…
I believe it's ranked in top 10 in places to live, and I just read recently its one of the most thriving professional cities in America (Ranked #3 by Forbes magazine for best places for business and careers).

Like things, love people.
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

I like the idea of Tallahassee. If that isn't a big enough city, what about Charlotte? To my knowledge there isn't a bowl there. Louisville would also work. It is a cool city that would be close enough for most SBC teams. There are lots of options.

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
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Re: New Bowl for the Belt

owlfan1 said

I like the idea of Tallahassee. If that isn't a big enough city, what about Charlotte? To my knowledge there isn't a bowl there. Louisville would also work. It is a cool city that would be close enough for most SBC teams. There are lots of options.

GO OWLS!!!

Charlotte has a bowl that seems to have a different car care theme every year.  Its an ACC/Big East game.  It would be cool to one day have a Sun Belt Championship game there.  It was where the Belt was founded.  I know they where fighting hard to get the ACC Champ there for the past few years. 

AEA
Go play Intramural Sports! www.fau.edu/campusrec/imsports/
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